Learn how the E-N crime team does their jobs and read about the quirky characters they encounter and the sometimes bizarre things that can happen at a crime scene that don't make it into their stories.

Lomi Kriel: ‘I just wanna see him’

Sudden death prompts disbelief and sometimes, the illusion that you may bring someone back if you can only see them once more. That was the young man’s first instinct when he heard his 19-year-old cousin had been shot and killed.

“That’s my cousin over there, man,” he told police officers who tried to block him from crossing the crime tape at the Madison apartment complex on the 4600 block of Dietrich Road Tuesday night. “That’s all I want to do, see my cousin.”

Minutes before Brian Brown had been shot and killed after a fight with two teenage boys who live across the street. Brown and one of the boys had been arguing for days and had arranged a fight to clear the air, a police report and witnesses said. The fight turned deadly, however, after Brown had one boy’s throat in a choke hold, the report said, and the boy lifted his arm, firing a shot into Brown’s face.

But Brown’s cousin didn’t know that yet. All he knew was that there had been a fight, that his cousin’s body was lying somewhere by the dumpster and that he wanted, he needed, to see him.

Repeating his request like a chant, as if it might make the horrible death go away, the man hurtled past police officers, who grabbed his arms.

“You can’t go back there, sir,” one said. “It’s a crime scene.”

“I just wanna see my cousin, I just wanna see my cousin.”

“Young man,” one officer told him, as he handcuffed him to calm him down. “You are going to get arrested, and you don’t want that.”

The number of people swirling around the crime scene — relatives, friends and curious residents — had now risen to at least 30. Babies cried, one of Brown’s aunts collapsed in grief, and small children watched solemnly. The two teenage boys had fled on foot and police believed at least some of the residents knew where they were — but no one was telling.

Brown’s father, Gary Reed, 56, a tall, graying man on crutches, pulled up and walked toward the crime scene with Brown’s four younger brothers in tow. A detective met him and hushed words were exchanged.

But suddenly, the conversation escalated. Harsh, loud words were fired.

“Why can’t I see my son?” Reed yelled, swinging his crutches and becoming increasingly agitated as the detective tried to calm him down before becoming angry himself. Family members crowded around him, shouting and screaming, and for a moment it seemed a fight might ensue.

“I’m just trying to help you,” the detective yelled, before retreating behind the crime scene tape.

“I’m sorry that the police are not respecting anybody and not letting us go back there and see the body,” said Reed looking weary. News cameras and reporters milled around, flooding spotlights onto various relatives in different stages of grief.

“The less people at the crime scene, the better,” said police spokesman Joe Rios, explaining that police allow few people, including other police officers, on the scene while evidence is collected — mainly, to ensure it isn’t destroyed or ruined.

Police officers, used to dealing with grisly crime scenes, also try to keep loved ones away because they know how disturbing the picture can be.